With the use of risky car title loans on the rise in Illinois, consumer advocates are calling for greater state and federal protections against "abusive auto title lending" that can trap borrowers in long-lasting debt cycles.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Half of Americans employed in the private sector work for small businesses. That means many workers simply don’t have access to retirement plans. Big firms lure talent with tax-advantaged savings plans like 401(k)s -- and even match workers' contributions, while neighborhood businesses often lack the means to provide such benefits.

On a fall morning in 2011, Daniel Biss, a State Senator in Illinois, was listening to a lobbyist give a self-aggrandizing presentation about his work in the State Capitol. But one “accomplishment” on this lobbyist’s list—killing an automatic IRA savings bill which would have automatically enrolled those without a retirement account—stood out.

Earlier this week, Upshot’s David Leonhardt summarized new research by economist Stephen J. Rose that concluded: "Income inequality has not actually risen since the financial crisis began." Rose’s findings counter conventional wisdom that income inequality has widened in recent years, however, the findings do not consider the important role of wealth inequality. The Urban Institute released an interactive data visualization that helps present a more complete picture of the American economic reality.

Public pension liabilities are a growing headache for many states, and are especially bad in Illinois. Fortunately, the Land of Lincoln now offers a possible template for how to shift state workers away from defined benefit (DB) pensions into more sustainable defined contribution (DC) plans. If successfully implemented, it would give public sector workers more control over their retirement and shield taxpayers from unsustainable pension burdens.

When you travel abroad and tell people that you are from Illinois, the response usually includes something about Al Capone, corrupt governors, or Michael Jordan. People might even mention our bitterly cold, interminable winters or (delicious) pizzas the size and weight of manhole covers. Now, we might see another reaction: an appreciation of Illinois as a state that is attempting to help more workers save for retirement.

On January 4, 2015, the governor of Illinois signed into law the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program Act (S.B. 2758). This law—first of its kind in the nation—requires certain employers to provide an automatic payroll deduction for savings in a Roth IRA for employees who are over age 18 and who do not opt out. Employers who are subject to this mandate are those who have 25 or more employees in Illinois, have been in business for at least two years, and have not offered their employees tax-favored retirement benefits in the preceding two years. Employers not otherwise subject to the Act may participate in the Program on an elective basis. The Program will not be activated before 2017, and affected employers must establish a payroll deposit arrangement “at most nine months” after the Program opens for enrollment.

By Mark Miller
(Reuters) - My home state of Illinois is not the first place that comes to mind for innovative approaches to retirement savings. We are much more infamous for our pension plan for state workers, which is the worst-funded in the country.

Illinois has just adopted a unique plan to get its residents to invest for retirement -- automatic enrollment in a savings program for private-sector workers whose employer doesn't offer a 401(k) or similar plan.

Illinois is taking a novel approach to getting its residents to save for retirement. Starting in 2017, most state residents with jobs who don’t already have a retirement plan at work will be automatically enrolled in individual retirement accounts, funded through a 3 percent deduction from their paychecks.

Mark January 4, 2015, down as a date to remember—one of the greatest legislative wins for families and individuals facing and living in poverty became law in Illinois. Called Secure Choice, it takes what corporate America has known for years, that employees are more likely to save for retirement through a payroll deduction, and provides the same opportunity to millions of Illinois employees whose employers previously never offered such a vehicle. In turn, many more people will retire with economic dignity and not into poverty. Adding to the meager average of $15,228 a year that workers relying on social security alone would each receive, Secure Choice boosts workers’ own savings potential via a payroll deduction that, in turn, immeasurably increases their overall retirement financial health.

CHICAGO – Governor Pat Quinn today signed legislation to create the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program. The program establishes the option of an individual retirement plan for more than two million Illinois private sector employees who currently do not have access to any retirement plan at work. Today’s action is part of Governor Quinn’s agenda to ensure all Illinois workers are protected and treated fairly.

I’m embarrassed to say I totally missed this, and had to find out via the New York Times’s Josh Barro, because it’s right in my wheelhouse:

"Starting in 2017, most [Illinois] state residents with jobs who don’t already have a retirement plan at work will be automatically enrolled in individual retirement accounts, funded through a 3 percent deduction from their paychecks."

What an easy lob to Republican state legislators! A Democratic senator, Daniel Biss of Evanston, was tossing them a chance to be on the right side of history. Biss asked them to support a clever savings plan to help as many as 2.5 million Illinoisans — mostly working- and middle-class — whose employers don't offer them retirement plans. What's more, the Biss bill is built on three Republican principles: It would encourage personal responsibility for retirement savings, it would cost taxpayers next to nothing and it would enable a private-sector solution.

On a vote of 30-25-02 in the Senate and 67-45 in the House, the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program (SB2758) was approved by the Illinois General Assembly today. The bill will give millions of private sector workers in Illinois the opportunity to save their own money for retirement by expanding...

The Illinois legislature on Wednesday approved the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Plan and thus did the right thing for an estimated 2.5 million Illinoisans statewide who do not have access to employee-sponsored retirement plans.

One third of Americans have no retirement savings and far more do not have enough savings to maintain their working lifestyle into retirement. For millennials—who feel the most optimistic and financially secure—more than two thirds aged 18 to 29 have saved nothing for retirement. So how is retirement changing and, as we live longer, do our expectations of what retirement means have to change as well?

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When you travel abroad and tell people that you are from Illinois, the response usually includes something about Al Capone, corrupt governors, or Michael Jordan. People might even mention our bitterly cold, interminable winters or (delicious) pizzas the size and weight of manhole covers. Now, we might see another reaction: an appreciation of Illinois as a state that is attempting to help more workers save for retirement.